New player to Guild Wars

    Hello everyone.

    I am a new to these forums and also to Guild Wars 1, I bought the game yesterday and I'm slowly trying to get into it, I intend to smell the roses and not to rush through content.
    For many years I played a few mmorg's in my life, mainly Final Fantasy 14, a little bit of Guild Wars 2, Elder Scrolls Online didn't really click with me, but mainly I played World of Warcraft.
    With World of Warcraft all came down to me falling in love for the classic versions or better the versions that start in Vanilla all the way up to Wrath of the Lich King, they are going to do that probably with their current anniversary servers but again and due to IRL I find myself looking a weeks going by and me not loging in to play the game... and I was still paying for the subscription.

    A few days ago I decided to end my subscription and to uninstall WoW from my PC, I was looking at any form of MMORPG's, like Ultima Online, Final Fantasy 11, Everquest, OSRS or even Lord of the Rings Online until I ended up looking at Guild Wars 1, I was about to get the 20th anniversary edition but that was take out of the store but I still got Guild Wars 1 plus Eye of the North and the Bonus Mission pack, So I think that at the end I get everything and it was a bit cheaper at the end.
    Due to various reasosn outside of IRL I was getting a bit upset about some decisions around Classic WoW and where Blizzard is taking the game, the so called #nochanges that's not a thing anymore and myself not having this "pressure" of not playing and enjoying a game that I'm paying a sub for while I can't play due to lack of time has been awesome since yesterday.

    I'm sure that Blizzard will do several Classic fresh servers from time to time and going forward so I think that at some point in the future I can go back there and play those versions of the game and experience my version of what many called the golden age of WoW, BUT for the moment I am in need of a different journey and I think that Guild Wars 1 can provide that.
    I have a few questions about GW1, the rest I will try to find out for myself:
    1- Does GW1 have grinds or something that can keep a player engaged for a long time and interested in playing this game?
    2- In terms of the world, is it big? Does it reward exploration or is it worth to explore this world?
    3- In terms of how the game is designed, I understand that I can only see players in towns or when in party with them, my question here is if there is a main place, a city or other places around the world where people usually hang out to chat, or just to chill?
    4- I have an ArenaNet account, I think that when I created my GW1 account it's all now under the same account, so I can partake on the Hall of Monuments. What is that exactly and how does it work?

    Thank you all for taking time reading this.
    I'm really looking forward for this new journey!

    hey and welcome

    1- the main grind is titles, think of them as achievements, they include a variety of pve and pvp content grind throughout all campaigns (the pve one is not redondent, you basically need to clear everything once in NM and HM, though farming is needed for some and also take advantage of double points week bonuses)

    2- big is subjective, but i guess you can say all campaigns combined makes it pretty big, exploration is one of the titles i mentioned

    3- kamadan american district is the trading hub and "main city" it is the first big city in Nightfall

    4- the hall of monuments is a small area in Eye of the north in which you dedicate (make it untradeable in the future) certain weapons, minipets and also your armor, your hero's armor and your titles. doing so gives you rewards in Gw2

    gl and enjoy the game

    IGN : Rip B B Enjoyer

    1. You have enough content and achievements to do that. You can choose your own way of playing depending on how much time you want to devote to it, unlike MMOs, which are paid (subscription) and often hide a time-consuming acquisition system in order to get you to pay a subscription for a long period of time. Guild Wars is much more accessible and free than a paid MMO. Leveling is simple, there are no supreme, very expensive weapons that are more powerful than others, etc.

    2. You can't fly, jump, or swim. Guild Wars 2 has this advantage, which Guild Wars 1 unfortunately does not. Nevertheless, the world remains beautiful and attractive. You have an exploration title, but it boils down to walking and discovering the map, not an exploit to discover a specific location, as in Guild Wars 2.

    3. Play in the US zone. To find players, the capital of Nighfall, Kamadan, is the main place to trade. There is also the Great Temple of Balthazar (for PvP) and Embark Beach, which can be an interesting gateway. These last two also have NPCs for Zaishen quests (daily reward quests).

    4. I'll redirect you to the official wiki -> Hall of Monuments The wiki is a database that I strongly recommend you keep handy if you have questions outside of Legacy and Reddit. The wiki is very comprehensive. If you are looking for builds (meta), there is another site here -> https://gwpvx.fandom.com/wiki/PvX_wiki


    Don't forget to find a guild and, if necessary, stay with it or find another one (If you have played Guild Wars 2, perhaps a guild that plays both games.). The goal is for you to feel comfortable with the people in it. It's with your guild/alliance, that you can plan and organize your outings in the game. Without them, it's very random.

    Welcome.

    1. Unlike many MMOs, the grind in Guild Wars is not "mandatory" as there is no grind for "better gear". You'll get "max armor" and "max weapons" early and easily. The grind mostly revolves around prestige items that are rare, may look nice, but do not have any better stats.

    The game is 20+ years old, I started playing in 2005 until GW2 came out. Around 2019 i was tired of yet another currency that needed to be collected in GW2 and came back to the original.

    The game is immersive in one aspect is that each class plays differently and changes the way you can play through.

    Playing through Prophecies leisurely can take 7-10 days playing an hour or two a day , fully exploring each area.

    Factions can be played through on a weekend with dedicated play time.

    Elona is probably a week playing casually .

    EOTN is a weekend again with dedicated playing time, then you can go through and do all the dungeons..


    I have multiple accounts and have many toons that have yet to play through all the campaigns . So in my eyes, it can hold my attention for a long time.

    YMMV

    IGN Rogue Monks Bane